Part 6

A/N: Last part! Phew. I lost steam, lol. And I don't know I think ever since the fourth part I've kind of been unsure of what I was doing, so it was time to wrap it up! It's on the long side, sorry. 

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Lorelai noticed Rory and stood in shock. Their eyes locked, and Luke appeared from the kitchen, not surprised to see Lorelai or to see this scene taking place.

Rory knew judging by the look that Lorelai was giving Luke at that moment that she had been tricked, too.

Luke smiled at them both with a mix of innocence and apology. "I'll be upstairs," he stated.

Both Lorelai and Rory watched him with shocked expressions. Lorelai turned to look at Rory after Luke had disappeared.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Maybe you should ask Luke and Lane, they seem to have a better idea than I do."

"What?"

"We were tricked," Rory clarified. "Lane called me saying she needed to talk. I get here and Lane calls me and tells me she had to work. So I come over here, and she's not even here. Luke tells me she just went out on an errand and not to worry, you're shopping and won't be by anytime soon."

Lorelai laughed a little. "Oh."

"It was well done," Rory admitted. "And you? I assume you were tricked?"

"Luke called me and told me to come by."

"And that's all?"

"Hey, I think it was a lot harder to get you in here than me," Lorelai noted.

"True," Rory agreed. They looked at each other uncomfortably for a moment. "So…"

"So…" Lorelai repeated.

"Why'd they do it?"

"Probably because they can see we're miserable and we need to talk."

"You're miserable too?" Rory asked.

"Well, when it comes to you, yeah," Lorelai said.

"I miss you," Rory added.

Lorelai smiled a little. "I miss you, too."

"I'm so sorry, Mom."

"Sorry for what?" Lorelai asked, taking a seat next to Rory.

"For making this mess."

"It's not all your fault," Lorelai assured her.

"Well it was when I said I wanted to drop out that all of this started."

"I'm disappointed, Rory," Lorelai told her. "I don't want you to drop out. I think it's a mistake. I know you can do this and you shouldn't let one person crush your dreams like that. That's not you. But I still love you. You're still my daughter."

"I don't want to disappoint you," Rory said, looking down at the counter.

"You can't live your life for other people," Lorelai told her. "I mean, I didn't exactly live my life so my parents weren't disappointed in me."

Rory laughed a little. "True."

"But this isn't just about me, this is about your and your future."

"I will go back later."

"Are you sure? Who's to say that a year from now you'll be any less confused?"

"Well, I don't know, but a year is a long time away. I should have everything figured out by then."

"You know you could go to school somewhere else, anywhere, for the year."

Rory shrugged. "I don't know."

"Yale was your dream," Lorelai said. "I never thought you'd give up on your dream so easily."

"Things happen."

"Was it your dream?" Lorelai asked suddenly.

Rory frowned. "What?"

"Maybe it wasn't. Maybe I turned into my own mother."

"What are you talking about?"

"Sometimes I think maybe it was my dream for you, the whole Harvard, Ivy League thing. Maybe it was because I wanted the best for you or because I didn't do all those things myself."

"It was my dream, Mom," Rory insisted. "It's all I worked for."

"Then why give up?" Lorelai asked. Rory frowned, and looked like she wasn't sure. "Things have always been hard, Rory. Remember when you started at Chilton and you were behind?"

Rory shrugged. "Yeah, but--"

"They told you then that you might not be able to catch up. Did you listen? No. You caught up and you were valedictorian."

"But that was different."

"How?"

"Because they didn't know me."

"How is that any different than Logan's father telling you he doesn't think you can do it?"

"Because I was his intern! That's what you do, you evaluate your interns. And he's good at what he does, if he says I don't have it, I should listen."

"Come on, Rory. You don't think that just for a moment it was weird that he offered you the internship after that disastrous dinner? That Logan's mother and grandfather didn't approve of you, but his father suddenly does?"

"Well, it was a little weird," Rory admitted.

"And did he ever see any of your writing?" Lorelai questioned.

"Well, no. But he doesn't think I have what it takes to get the stories."

"Do you think you have what it takes?"

"I used to."

"Before all this?"

"Yeah."

"So just go back to that, Rory. Just block this out and pretend it never happened."

"But I can't do that." She paused. "Can I?"

"Yes, you can."

"But what if he's right?"

There was silence for a moment. "What if he's wrong?" Lorelai replied.

Rory thought about that for a moment. "I want him to be wrong."

"Then that's what's important," Lorelai noted. "If you still want this, you still want this, and you can work for it. Maybe just a little harder. Put yourself out there a little more. But there is no reason in the world why you can't have this."

"You really think I can do it?" Rory asked.

"I know you can do it. Luke knows you can do it, everyone knows you can do it. Everyone except the one guy who's name we won't mention."

"But he's the one who should know if I can do it or not."

"Sometimes in life, Rory, people aren't as honest and don't have as good of intentions as you'd like them to have."

"How do we know he had bad intentions?"

"We don't. But you have to look at the evidence and say that if anyone had bad intentions, it might have to be him. That's why you can't take his word on this one. Keep going, keep working towards this and if more people tell you what he told you, then maybe it's time to start questioning your choice. But not from one person who may not have had the best of intentions."

Rory nodded and looked down at her hands. "You're right."

"I am?" Lorelai asked. "I mean, I know I am, but I'm surprised you think I am."

Rory laughed a little. "I've been thinking, a lot, the past few weeks. And talking to Logan and Grandma and Grandpa, and, well, they all think I can do it. And it's weird. When I decided to drop out of Yale, everything was all wrong. I didn't know what to do with myself without school. It's not like I could just go out and get a great job. And without school to focus on, well, I was lost."

"Does this mean you're going to go back?"

Rory took a deep breath. "You really, really think I can do it?"

"I would tell you that you could if you couldn't."

Rory smiled. "Like the time when I was nine and wanted to juggle in the school talent show and you told me I had no talent in juggling?"

Lorelai nodded, smiling at the memory. "Exactly."

"Okay. Then yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes, I'm going back."

"Oh, thank God," Lorelai breathed, pulling Rory to her. "Don't ever scare me with things like dropping out of Yale again."

"Not until next summer," Rory teased. "What about us, are we good?"

"We're good."

"Good." Rory smiled. "Thank you for not giving up on me."

Lorelai smiled. "I will never give up on you," she said, breaking away from the hug.

"I'm sorry for everything."

"Me too," Lorelai agreed.

"Can I come home?"

"What? You mean you aren't having fun livin' it up with the Gilmores?"

Rory giggled. "I'd rather be with you."

"Then of course."

Rory smiled. "Are you going to go kill Luke now?"

"In a minute."

"Before you kill him, can I thank him? Because it's kind of hard to thank him after he's already dead."

"Well, I'm not really going to kill him, because he did get us to work this out. But I'll let him think I am."

"Evil," Rory told her, then she gasped. "You're getting married!"

Lorelai grinned. "I know."

"Now we can really be excited and celebrate this together!" Rory exclaimed.

Lorelai held out her left hand so Rory could examine the ring again. She looked at it for a few moments. "Pretty, huh?" Lorelai asked her.

"It's perfect for you," Rory said. "Oh, I'm so happy for you!" She flung her arms around Lorelai and held her tight. "Congratulations."

"Thanks, Babe," Lorelai replied, kissing Rory on the head. "Now, I guess I'll go tell Luke it's safe to come out," Lorelai said, getting up off her stool.

Rory smiled. "Okay."

Lorelai went behind the curtain and up the stairs to Luke's apartment. She entered without knocking, knowing he was probably waiting for her.

He was standing in the kitchen, doing something at the sink, when she came in. He couldn't read her expression, and when she was headed straight for him he couldn't tell if she was ready to kill him or not.

She marched right over to him and threw her arms around him. He seemed to be taken my surprise and slowly put his arms back around her.

"Thanks," she whispered in his ear softly.

"I'm guessing talking to Rory went well?"

She nodded, pulling away from him so she could look at him. "She's going back to Yale."

He raised his eyebrows. "Logan was right."

Lorelai frowned. "Logan?"

"He told me that if you two could just talk it out, he really thought Rory would decide not to drop out."

"He was in on this, too?" Lorelai asked. Luke nodded. "It was his idea, actually, getting you two in the same room so you would talk, he got me to agree to it and figure out how to do it."

"You, Lane, Logan, any other L named accomplices out there?"

He shook his head with a smile. "No, I think that was about it."

She sighed. "I think I should talk to Logan." Luke raised his eyebrows. "Maybe I jumped to conclusions about him. He did want Rory and I to talk things out, apparently he didn't want her to drop out, and he took the blame for the yacht thing at the trial."

"Maybe he's not so bad," Luke agreed.

"Maybe not," Lorelai agreed. "But anyway, thank you for agreeing to the plan and setting it up," she said, leaning in to kiss his neck.

"I thought you'd be a little more mad about this," Luke stated.

She raised her eyebrows. "Would you rather I be mad?" she asked, pulling away.

"Uh, no, not particularly," Luke realized.

"Because we could fight, then we could have some great make-up sex."

"I'd rather bypass the fighting," he stated.

She chuckled. "Me too." She leaned up to give him a deep kiss, pulling him as close to her as possible. There was a knock on the open door, and she broke away suddenly to see Rory.

"I guess you decided not to kill him," Rory stated.

Lorelai smiled at Rory. "Sorry."

"No, sorry for interrupting. I just, wanted to say thanks to Luke."

Luke shrugged. "It was nothing. It was Logan's idea."

Rory raised her eyebrows. "Logan, my Logan?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah."

"He was in on this, too?" Rory asked, wrinkling her nose. "You talked with him?" she added in surprise.

Luke nodded. "His idea to get both of you in the same room."

"But you organized it all, didn't you?" Rory asked knowingly. "So thanks."

"Anytime."

"And thanks for always believing in me." She moved across the room to give a hug to Luke. "And congratulations," she added.

"Oh," Luke realized, "Right. Thanks."

She grinned at him. "Well I'm going to leave you two to do, uh… whatever it is you want to do," Rory said uncomfortably. "I guess I'm going to go call Logan and then go talk to Grandma and Grandpa and tell them I'm going back to Yale."

Lorelai nodded. "Okay, Kiddo."

"I'll call you later," she told her mom.

"Okay. Rory?"

"Hmm?" Rory asked, turning to face her mother.

"I want to meet Logan. I mean, I know I've met him, like, twice, but I want a real dinner with him, without my parents around so I can get a word in and not look like an idiot. Our type of dinner."

Rory laughed. "Okay." She looked to them. "I want him to meet you, too, like really get to meet you. And Luke."

"And me?" Luke asked with a frown.

"Well, yeah. You are going to be my stepfather."

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, that will be good. You, me, Logan and Luke."

Rory smiled in return. "Yeah. It's a date." She turned back to the door. "See you guys later," she added before slipping out.

"Rory's coming home for the rest of summer," she told him.

"I assumed," Luke replied.

"So you better get used to saying over with Rory there."

"I don't know--"

"No excuses. We're getting married, you have to get used to this now."

He grumbled. "Yeah, okay."

"Good." She kissed him on the cheek. "Hey, maybe we should take her to see the house."

He frowned. "I think she knows your house."

She giggled. "No, silly. The new house."

"Oh," he realized. "Yeah, we can do that. Is she okay with that whole issue?"

"I'm sure she is. I haven't talked to her about it in depth, but I have a feeling she'll be fine."

"If she's not then we can always sell it to Kirk," he added.

"True," Lorelai laughed. "But we're not going to."

Luke shrugged. "He's got a lot of money, we could rip him off and make a fortune."

She laughed. "Yes, because that sounds like you, Luke."

"I have my secrets."

She smiled at him lovingly. "I don't think I've ever been this happy. I mean, now that things are good with Rory and you and I are engaged, everything is just… wow."

He smiled and kissed her softly in reply. She put her arms on his shoulders and gave them a squeeze, then moved them around his neck. "When you first met me, what did you think?" she asked suddenly.

"That you were insane."

"And what do you think now?"

"That you're insane."

She raised her eyebrows. "Well, good to know you're consistent with your thoughts."

He chuckled. "Well if it helps, I also love you."

She wrinkled her face in thought. "Helps a little."

"Thought it might."

"Heeey, Luke?"

"What?"

"Thanks."

He looked at her for a moment, not really sure what exactly she was thanking him for. "You're welcome."

Later that day, Rory had returned to Hartford, smiling to herself, realizing how relieved she felt. She was extremely glad she had worked things out when her mother, and knowing she was going back to Yale next year was also a relief. She had felt lost and nervous, and her future seemed to be a question mark when she had decided to take time off.

"Grandma? Grandpa?" Rory asked, approaching them as they sat at the table, discussing something or other.

"Yes, Rory?" Emily asked. "I'm glad you're here, actually. You know, I was thinking that maybe you'd like to stay in the house with us."

"Yes," Richard said, "I know firsthand that the pool house can be cold and lonely."

"And you do have a bedroom of your own in here," Emily added.

Rory knew what was happening here. "Well, first of all, I'm sorry about the whole Logan thing," she said, looking down at her feet. "And I secondly, I will be moving, but not in here."

"What?" Emily asked, alarmed. "You will not be moving out on your own!"

"No, no," Rory corrected. "I'm going back home to Stars Hollow."

Richard frowned. "With your mother?"

Rory nodded. "Yeah. We talked today and I decided I'm going to go back home with her and Luke."

Richard and Emily looked at each other at the mention of Luke. "Are you sure, Rory? Because you're welcome here," Richard said.

Rory nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. Thank you for everything," she added. "You've been amazing and I won't forget it."

They both nodded. "You can come to us anytime, Rory," Emily added, genuinely relieved that Rory was going to be going back home. Whatever had happened with her and Lorelai to get Rory back to Stars Hollow was fine with her. After walking in on her and Logan, Emily had wondered if Rory had been given too much freedom at a time when she was too confused.

"I know. And thank you. But everything is okay with Mom and me now, and…" she took a deep breath and then smiled up at them. "I'm going back to Yale!"

Richard and Emily jumped up in excitement. "Oh, that's wonderful news!" Richard declared.

"Yes, truly wonderful," Emily agreed, breathing a sigh of relief. They both ran to hug Rory, and she smiled, remembering when they had first found out she was going to be going to Yale and had been ecstatic.

This is a new beginning, she told herself. "Yes, it is," she told them with a smile.

"Let's celebrate!" Richard said, heading off to get the Champaign.

"Sure, let's celebrate," Rory agreed with a small smile.

Emily nodded in agreement and made a mental note to call Lorelai later and tell her, subtly, what a great job she was doing with Rory. Because, Emily realized, Rory was who she was because of Lorelai. She was apparently going back to Yale after a talk with Lorelai. And Emily knew firsthand that it wasn't easy raising a child. She had often thought Lorelai was lucky, because Rory was not a child like Lorelai had been, rebellious and defiant. However, having Rory in her home for a few months Emily realized that Rory could make mistakes, too, and it was Lorelai who was preventing that all these years.

And, she thought a little less bitterly than normal, she had to send her something to congratulate her on her engagement.

She was her daughter, after all.

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"God," Lorelai moaned, opening the door for Luke. "I feel like I'm the one meeting the parents here."

He chuckled and kissed her before stepping in the door. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know what to wear," she said with a grumble, closing the door behind Luke and heading towards the stairs. He followed her into the living room and stopped as she began going up the steps. "Come up," she added.

He hesitated slightly. "But you're getting ready," he pointed out.

"So?" she asked with a laugh. "Come up."

He shrugged and followed her up the stairs, listening to her prattle on about how she had nothing to wear, and anything she felt like wearing wasn't clean.

"Relax," he told her, picking up a skirt off her bed and moving it to the side so he could sit down.

"And why are you so relaxed? You hate these kinds of things."

He shrugged as she pulled her t-shirt off and examined the choice of blouses that were hanging in front of her in the closet. "Ugh, which one?"

"They're all fine," he told her.

She frowned at him and pulled a white blouse out of the closet and slipped into it before examining her skirts and pulling one off the hanger. She changed into it quickly.

"Hey, you know," she said thoughtfully, "maybe I shouldn't put all these clothes back in. How much room are you planning on taking up in here anyhow?"

"Not nearly as much as you do," he deadpanned, gesturing towards the explosion of clothes on her bed and in the closet.

"Well, good, that works for me, then," she said with a chuckle. She turned to face him. "Well?

"You look great."

"Really? Because I feel like—"

"Lorelai, trust me. You're perfect."

She smiled at him and leaned down to kiss him gently. "Thanks," she replied before going over to her dresser and grabbing a hairbrush to run through her hair. There was a knock at the door, and Lorelai grumbled.

"They're early. Who taught Rory to show up places early?"

He got off of her bed and squeezed her shoulders comfortingly. "It will be fine."

They went downstairs and Lorelai pulled the door open to reveal Rory and Logan. Lorelai smiled at them.

"Hey Mom," Rory greeted with a smile. "Hi Luke."

"Hi Rory," he replied.

"Welcome," Lorelai added, giving a smile to Logan.

"So this is my mom, you've met her a few times," Rory said to Logan with a chuckle. "And then this is Luke, you kind of met him, and I guess you two have been in cahoots, so you know each other."

"Right," Logan said. "Nice to see you again Ms. Gilmore," he said, shaking Lorelai's hand. "And nice to meet you in person again Mr. Danes."

"Please, call me Lorelai," Lorelai told him. "And come in, make yourself comfortable."

"Thanks Lorelai," he said. Rory smiled at him encouragingly. "So, Rory tells me you two are getting married," Logan said as they sat down in the living room while Luke went into the kitchen to start the dinner.

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, planning for February."

"That's great. Congratulations."

"Thanks," she said with a smile. "So Luke's making dinner tonight. Normally for Rory and I dinner consists of take out or junk food, so you're in for a treat tonight."

Logan laughed, and Rory chimed in. "Yeah, it's a surprise I wasn't an overweight child with the kinds of things we ate."

"I wish I had had meals like that growing up. Just once in a while," Logan added. "I can't tell you the number of times I was served some kind of dinner with food so fancy I wasn't even sure I wanted to know what it was or what was in it."

Lorelai laughed. "I'm with you there."

Luke entered the room. "Shouldn't take too long," he announced, "I actually prepared most of it earlier, just have to heat it up and make a few things."

"See," Rory told Logan, "Mom's lucky Luke knows how to cook, otherwise they'd be in real trouble."

"Hey, it's not my fault," Lorelai said. "My mother never taught me how to cook, because she doesn't know how to cook. She has her maids to prepare all her meals for her. At least I hack it on my own."

"Or, you have Luke to prepare your meals for you," Rory interjected.

"Not all the time," Lorelai defended herself.

"Uh huh," Rory disagreed. She turned to Logan. "We ate at Luke's nine times out of ten when we ate out. Breakfast, always, dinner, a lot of the time."

"They keep me in business with coffee alone," Luke added.

Logan laughed. "So they both have that caffeine addiction?"

"Hey!" Rory said. "I'm not even nearly as bad as my mom is."

"No way," Logan responded.

"It's true," Luke supplied with a grimace. "Cut this one off one cup of coffee too early and you're risking your life."

"Hey!" Lorelai interjected. "Not true."

"Totally true," Rory agreed.

"Fine, fine, gang up on me," Lorelai stated. "Next time I'll cook."

Rory laughed. "So Mom, guess what Logan's favorite movie is?"

Logan groaned. "It's not my favorite."

"What is it?" Lorelai asked, excited.

"The Way We Were!" Rory exclaimed.

Lorelai gasped. "Wow, wonderful choice. Don't hear that a lot from guys."

"It's not my favorite," Logan insisted again. "It's just, when I was about six or seven, we had this maid that I really liked. I liked her better than my nanny, actually, she was really sweet and she was funny. So she loved The Way We Were," he said, "and a lot of the time she would be watching it in her room at night. She watched it at least once a month. So I'd pass by and kind of watch from the doorway and she would invite me in to watch with her. It sort of became our thing. So it just always reminds me of watching it with her when I was a kid."

"Aww," Lorelai stated. "That's nice." Logan shrugged, clearly embarrassed, so Lorelai continued. "We never had a maid long enough for me to bond with them. I barely had a chance to learn their names."

"Mom loves The Way We Were," Rory explained to Logan. "She probably makes Luke watch it all the time."

"Oh, no, Luke hates that movie now," Lorelai stated.

"What?" Rory gasped. "Luke, how do you hate The Way We Were?"

"Well it doesn't exactly have the best ending," Luke mumbled.

Lorelai looked at him and smiled. "He doesn't hate the actual movie, he just doesn't like the connotation it has--" she looked at Luke. "Sorry, never mind, I'll stop now."

"Aw, why does it have a bad connotation now?" Rory asked sadly.

Lorelai looked at Luke hesitantly. "I kind of, uh-- it reminds him of our break up." She paused and glanced at Luke before continuing. "I called him after you left with Frank," she told Rory. Then she looked to Logan. "Thanks, by the way."

Logan looked confused. "Who's Frank?" he asked Rory.

"Your driver Frank."

"Oh. Oh, the time you borrowed my driver to come out here."

Rory nodded. "Yeah. My mom and Luke had just broken up and that's why I needed to get back here. My mom was a mess, she was in bed and upset and I've never seen her like that--" Rory glanced at Luke and realized she should probably stop talking. "Okay, sorry, anyway, The Way We Were has a bad connotation?"

"Yeah, so I called Luke after you left that night and left him this long, embarrassing, rambling message while crying and, well, referenced The Way We Were a few times, and bam, suddenly he doesn't like it anymore."

"Oh, Mom," Rory said with a laugh.

"Can you blame me?" Luke asked. "That was the most depressing message I've ever gotten."

Lorelai blushed. "Sorry."

"I better go check on dinner," Luke said, patting Lorelai on the shoulder before going into the kitchen.

"I'll go with him," Lorelai said a moment later before getting up and heading to the kitchen.

She glanced back to look at Rory and Logan on her way, and they looked happy, talking and laughing.

"Hey," Lorelai said, walking up to Luke in the kitchen and coming up behind him and sliding her hands around him. "How's dinner looking?"

"Everything's going according to schedule," he told her.

"Good," she said with a smile. "I'm starving."

"Newsflash."

She swatted him lightly, then sighed happily. "I like this."

"What?"

"Us, like this. We're being all married-like. You know, talking to the daughter's boyfriend, making dinner, hanging out at home."

"Ah," he said. "Well, I guess that's good seeing that we are going to be married."

"Hey, how about later we do some more married-like things?" she teased with a suggestive raise of her eyebrows as Luke turned around to face her.

"Rory's here," he reminded her.

"Oh, here we go with this again. Luke. Rory is here. You're here. No big deal."

"But… she'll know."

"She won't know!" Lorelai insisted with a laugh. "She'll go into her room and close her door. We'll wait until she's asleep. We'll go up to our room, upstairs, and close and lock our door, and she'll never know."

"Well, she won't know know, but she'll assume."

"Luke, you stayed here last night and she was here. And you'll stay here more nights when she's here. And that means that she'll probably assume that one of those nights we've done something even if we haven't. So if she's going to be thinking it, we may as well be doing it."

"Our room," he stated.

"What?" she asked with a frown. "She might get suspicious if we go upstairs now," she joked.

"You said our room."

"Oh," she realized. "Yeah."

"It's never been our room before."

"Well, you are moving in, aren't you? And we are getting married, yes?" He nodded. "So, it's our room."

"I know. It just took me by surprise."

"Bad surprise?" she asked.

"No," he stated quickly, giving her a quick kiss. "Good surprise."

"Okay, good," she smiled.

"Shouldn't you be out there with Rory and Logan?"

"I thought I'd give Logan a little breather, a chance to not have to keep up with the small talk."

"Oh," Luke realized.

"He's a pretty nice guy," Lorelai said biting her lip. "I kind of like him in this environment. It was unfortunate how I met him the first few times."

Luke nodded. "He seems like a good guy."

"I mean, he still has a wild streak and it's obvious he does crazy things, but maybe that's good for Rory. As long as she doesn't steal anymore yachts."

Luke laughed a little. "Right."

"And I still really don't like his family, especially his father."

"But you can't let that influence your opinion of him. After all, you're quite different from your parents."

She nodded in reluctant agreement. "Remember when Rory got back together with Dean last year? I told you it was her choice who she chooses to be with not ours. And that still holds, even though I'm not particularly comfortable with her current choice at the moment. Just, please, remind me of that if I start turning into my mother?"

He nodded. "My pleasure."

"He's me," Lorelai stated. "I mean, he's me if I had done what my parents wanted me to do with my life."

"What?"

"Living up to his parents' expectations, going to the same school as his parents, getting along better with the maids than his parents, growing up in that lifestyle."

"Oh," Luke realized. "I guess he kind of is."

"I kind of feel for him. I don't think he likes it."

"Maybe you should help him break out then," Luke teased.

"Maybe," Lorelai pretended to consider it. Luke shook his head and took something out of the oven, then hit Lorelai with the oven mitten.

"Dinner," he told her as he walked out of the room to go tell Rory and Logan.

xxxxxxxxxx

The next morning Luke came downstairs dressed and fully awake a little after nine. He was surprised to see Rory already up.

"Hey Luke," she greeted him with a smile.

"Hey," he said. "You're up early."

"I know," she said. "I like to wake up early sometimes, actually."

"I thought no one woke up before noon in this house?"

"That's what Mom thinks," Rory laughed. "Usually by the time she gets up she just assumes I've just gotten up, but in actuality I've been up for hours. It started after I started Yale. I got used to waking up early because most of my classes are early, so…"

"Right," he agreed. "Makes sense." Luke disappeared into the kitchen, and returned a moment later. "Hey, Rory?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you really okay with everything?"

"Everything like you and Mom everything?" Luke nodded. "I'm fine with it. I'm beyond fine with it. I'm so happy for you guys."

"But you're sure you're comfortable with it all?" he asked, sitting down on the couch with her.

Rory nodded. "Yes. I promise. Totally and completely comfortable with it."

Luke nodded. "Okay." He watched her for a moment. "What about the… moving?"

"Oh," Rory said. "Well, that's a little harder to get used to, but, yeah, I'm okay with that."

"I don't want anything to happen that you're not okay with."

"Well, it will be weird to not come home to this house anymore," she said, "but soon I'll be coming home less and less anyhow," she added almost sadly. "And the new house will become home to me soon enough. Mom is so excited about it, and I hear you love it, and it is much bigger, you know, for… well, however you want to fill that space," Rory said with a smile. "We'll all get used to it together."

Luke smiled. "Okay. Good."

She returned his smile. "Thanks for checking in with me though."

"Of course," he said. "I want to make sure you're happy."

"I'm happy if you and Mom are happy."

"Well, okay."

"Thanks for everything. Thanks for taking care of Mom the past few weeks. I know things were weird between me and Mom, but I knew she was okay because she had you."

Luke nodded. "I'm glad you're going back," he told her.

She smiled. "Me too."

"And just so you know, I know you can do anything you put your mind to."

Rory smiled. "Thanks." She watched him get up. "Don't tell Mom I'm an early riser now?"

He nodded and smiled. "Secret's safe with me."

xxxxxxxxxx

"Geez, Luke," Lorelai grumbled, "what did you put in this box?" she asked, putting it down on her bedroom floor and flopping on the bed to take a break.

"Don't ask me, you packed half of them."

"So how do you know that's one of mine?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, but it sounds better."

She groaned and tossed a pillow at him, then put her hand over her face. "I'm tired."

"No you're not."

"Yes I am," she whined.

"You just want to get out of helping," he told her. Rory came into the room with a box at that moment.

"You've got Rory," she stated. "Now leave me alone."

"Hey now," Rory said, putting her hands on her hips. "Maybe Luke and I will go out for ice-cream and leave you to finish."

"Ugh, fine," Lorelai said, pulling herself up to a sitting position on the end of the bed. She looked at Luke and Rory and smiled, realizing that this was really happening. All of them, together. A family. Her family. Luke rolled his eyes at Lorelai and left to go get more boxes.

"Besides," Rory said, "I told Lane I'd be over in a half hour."

"You really don't have to stay with Lane tonight," Lorelai reminded her, opening a box that was on the floor.

"I know," Rory said, "but it's your first night living with Luke, and, uh…" she trailed off uncomfortably. "Well, I just thought you might like some privacy. Besides, it will be easier on Luke to adjust."

"Luke's stayed over here with you home before," Lorelai said as she looked through the contents of the box she had opened.

"Yeah, I know, but this is different now."

Lorelai shrugged. "I guess, maybe."

"Besides, it will be fun to stay with Lane, she's leaving day after tomorrow with the band, you know."

Lorelai looked up. "Oh, that's right."

"So it will be nice to spend time with her before she goes."

"True," Lorelai agreed. "As long as you're sure."

"I'm totally sure," she said. Luke appeared in the doorway with more boxes.

"Okay, Rory, I know you're just like your mother, but I thought I had you on my side here."

Rory giggled. "Sorry!" she said before heading out of the bedroom to get one last load of boxes. Luke set the boxes down on the floor and turned to look at Lorelai who gave him an innocent smile.

"Up," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her off the bed.

"That's a first," she teased, "trying to get me off the bed. I think you'll change your tune later," she added.

Luke glared at her. "Shh!" he said. "Rory's around."

She laughed. "My life is going to be interesting, that's for sure."

He looked at her, having tuned her out but pretty sure he was supposed to be insulted in some way by whatever she had just said.

"Here you go!" Rory said, coming into the room with more boxes. "And guess what, that's the last of them."

"Yes!" Lorelai cheered, pumping her fist in the air. "My work is over."

Luke rolled his eyes, then turned to Rory. "Thanks Rory."

"No problem," she told them. "I'm gonna head of to Lane's, though," she said. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Okay. Have fun, Hon," Lorelai said as Rory gave her a kiss on the cheek and left the room waving goodbye to Luke.

"She doesn't have to spend the night at Lane's," Luke said.

"I know, but she wants to," Lorelai said. "Besides, it's like pulling teeth to get you to come within ten feet of me when she's here, and that definitely doesn't cut it tonight so it's for the best."

Luke grumbled. "Well, what do you expect?"

"We're working on it," Lorelai said with a laugh, patting him on the shoulder. "By next summer when Rory is home you won't even think twice about having fun behind closed doors. That's my goal."

He rolled his eyes, then thought about her statement. "We'll be married by then."

She smiled and her expression changed from playful to content. "Yeah. We will be." The playful look returned. "Which means we should still be in the honeymoon phase and you can't dwell on the fact that Rory is here."

"Lorelai," he grumbled. "Let's please not think about that."

"Wow, the thought of sex with me is that appalling?" she asked with a roll of her eyes. "Sheesh, should have told me that before I proposed."

He rolled his. "Shut up," he told her, looking through the box she had been looking through earlier.

"Hey, where are we going to go on our honeymoon?" she asked suddenly, moving closer to him as he sat down on the edge of the bed next to her.

He shrugged. "Wherever you want." She opened her mouth to speak. "But nowhere with flashing lights or people in animal costumes or nothing but beaches."

She pouted. "Okay, that took out about 70 of my choices."

"Go with the other 30 then."

"Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter," she said with a grin, looking over at him. "Because all we really need is a hotel room, right?"

He raised his eyebrows at her and she giggled. "Right," he said.

"Hey," she said, taking the book he had in his hand out of his hand and tossing it in the box. "Let's practice," she whispered in his ear, putting her arms around his neck and pulling him down to the bed on top of her, immediately seeking out his lips with her own.

"Sure. Practice is good," he mumbled against her lips.

"Practice makes perfect," she added between kisses.

"I think we've already got the perfect part down," he muttered, and she pulled away to grin at him.

"My God, you are a smooth talker," she said before taking his lips over with her own again.

xxxxxxxxx

"Okay. You can go use the bathroom first," she stated later that night. "Or we could go together."

He frowned at her. "Okay, I love you and all but…"

She shook her head. "No, I mean to brush our teeth," she stated.

"Lorelai, why is this an issue? I've spent the night here before. Many times."

"I know, but this is different now. These routines we establish now are possibly the routines we will use for the rest of our life."

"How about this," he said. "You go use the bathroom first, like always, and then I'll go in. Like always."

"Yeah, but when we used to stay at your old place," she said, placing an emphasis on 'old' and grinning at him, "you always used the bathroom first."

"Go," he instructed her, pointing to the door.

She shrugged. "Okay. But don't come crying to me in five years that you want to use the bathroom first," she said, disappearing down the hall in nothing but his flannel shirt.

He briefly wondered how she had managed to locate that shirt already in the mess of boxes. He looked around at everything strewn across the room. Boxes, things they had unpacked but not put away, her clothes that had been already scattered around the room. He smiled to himself realizing that all his belongings were here, in her bedroom.

It still amazed him sometimes that this was for real. After all the years he had only imagined this, it was really happening.

Lorelai returned and smiled at him. "Bathroom's all yours," she said with a smile. He got up off the bed and headed to the bathroom, stopping when he passed her to place a kiss on her lips. She grinned happily and settled down on the bed.

When he returned, she looked at him with a smile.

"What now?" he asked.

"Which side of the bed do you want?"

"Lorelai, honestly," he said. "We can keep the same sides of the bed."

"But like I said, the routines we establish now--"

"I hate to break it to you," he interrupted her, "but I think we've already established routines."

She smiled. "Guess so. So that's your side then?"

"I'm good with this side," he agreed.

"Okay, good," she said, settling down under the covers. He did the same. "Weird?" she asked.

"What?"

"Being here. Sleeping here and knowing you live here now."

"Kind of," he said. "I mean, being here feels normal, but it still feels like I have to go home to get my things."

She nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Hey Luke?"

"What?"

"You know you're the only one, right?"

"The only one what?"

"The only one who's ever slept in my bed with me. Or slept with me in my bed," she added with a giggle and a knowing look.

He frowned. "Really?"

"I thought you knew that," she added.

"Well I didn't exactly know that," he said. "But I knew how you were about Rory and people you were dating when she was younger."

"Max stayed here once," she said. "But he just slept here. And I was so freaked out by it that I ended up sleeping downstairs with Rory."

He laughed. "Nice."

"He woke up the next morning and found me in Rory's bed. I felt kind of bad, so I told him Rory had had a nightmare. I don't think he bought it being that she was almost seventeen at the time, but at least I tried."

"So why me?" he asked.

"Why you?" she repeated.

"Why didn't you think twice about having me here when we started dating?"

She shrugged. "You were already so in my life that it just felt right."

"Oh," he said.

She rolled over towards him. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he replied, pulling her closer to him.

"Remember the first night we spent together?" she asked.

"Of course," he said.

"I was so nervous," she stated. "When we went upstairs and as the clothes came off," she said. "I mean, wasn't it nerve wracking?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it was kind of scary. It was you and me. After years."

"Exactly," she agreed. "But it was amazing," she added.

"Definitely," he agreed, wondering if she even knew where she was going with this. "It was you and me. After years," he added again.

She giggled. "Yeah. But now look at us, not even thinking twice about ripping each other's clothes off or having our own clothes ripped off."

"Well I think if I actually ripped your clothes, you may think twice about it," he stated. "Were you going somewhere with this?" he added.

"I'm just saying. At first it was scary because it was you and me. And that first time was unbelievably amazing because it was you and me. But it's still amazing. Always. The nervousness and the newness are gone and it's still amazing." She paused. "Isn't it?"

He chuckled and ran a hand through her hair. "Yes. It is."

"My parents have been married for forty years," she stated.

"Uh huh," he replied.

"Can we be married for that long? That's a long time. That's longer than we've even been alive so far."

"As long as you're not planning on an early death from your obsessive intake of caffeine."

She laughed a little. "Deal."

xxxxxxxxx

She found it hard to believe that it was only the 4th of July. It seemed like the summer had drawn on for a long time already. It seemed like three summers had passed already.

She was waiting for the fireworks in the Town Square, watching Rory giggle and happily talk to Logan, who she'd convinced to come into town to spend the 4th of July with her. She looked happy with him, Lorelai realized. And while she didn't like Rory stealing yachts and having casual sex, she did like seeing her happy.

She stood in the middle of the town square when Luke walked up to her. She grinned happily. She had spent the better part of the morning trying to convince him to come outside for the fireworks that night, and he had refused. Somehow, though, she knew he would come outside at the last minute.

"Hey there stranger," she greeted him with a grin.

"Hey yourself."

She smiled and sighed contentedly. "I think everything is back to normal again."

"Seems that way," he agreed. "Rory's going back to Yale, you and Rory are good again, you're talking to your parents but still not thrilled with them and Logan doesn't seem so bad anymore."

She looked up at the sky, waiting for the fireworks. "And you and I are… well, different, but we're good."

"We're very good," he agreed, glancing up at the sky to see what she was looking at, then looked back down when he saw there was nothing but dark sky above them. He noticed she was now looking at him intently. "What?"

She shook her head slightly. "Nothing," she said, and he noticed her voice was wavering as it usually did before she started to cry. She composed herself and took a breath. "I mean, these past few months, everything has been crazy. Things were out of control; one by one everything started falling apart. But you were there the whole time, Luke. With me. I mean, nothing chased you away. No matter how bad things got, you were still right there with me on my side. You were there when I was upset, when I was afraid, when I needed someone, you were there no matter what." She stopped to gather her thoughts and looked down at her feet before looking back up at him. "I don't think I could have gotten through all this without you."

"Yes you would have," he told her confidently.

"Well, maybe. But I wouldn't have gotten through it easily. I think you passed the test. If you can deal with all this, all the drama and all the stress and everything, I think you're gonna make it being married to me." He smiled slightly and laughed a little. "I know you're going to be an amazing husband," she added. "If I wasn't sure before, which I was, the past two months proved it. I mean, absolutely amazing, no doubt about it. I just hope that I'll be half as--"

He stopped her by placing a finger against her lips. "You'll be more than half as amazing. You'll be just as amazing."

Her lips curved into a smile. "I hope so."

"I know so," he told her. "And I'm the one that gets to decide, right? So I get the final say."

She smiled and went to hug him tightly.

"Thank you. For being so amazing."

He shrugged. "No big deal."

She glanced at Rory and Logan again over his shoulder as she held onto him. She finally pulled away, but left one arm around his waist, leaning up against him and he kissed her on the head.

A moment later the streetlights turned off (you have to love Taylor, thinking Stars Hollow is Disneyland or something, turning the streetlights off for a fireworks show) and the first of the fireworks began to boom and streak across the sky. Lorelai and Luke looked up and watched for a few moments.

"Admit it, they're pretty," she said to Luke without tearing her gaze from the sky.

"Maybe they're not so bad," he replied with a grumble. "But not pretty."

She rolled her eyes slightly. "Okay, you win. Not pretty." She finally tore her eyes from the sky to look at him, watching him look up at the sky. When he felt her gaze on him he looked down at her, and she wasted no time reaching up and pulling his face to hers and attaching their lips. She kissed him deeply, letting her tongue slide over his, pulling away earlier than she would have liked just because she knew he was probably not a fan of a kiss like this in the middle of the town square.

"Relax, everyone is looking at the sky," she told him with a laugh.

"Uh huh," he stated, clearly taken aback by the sudden kiss.

She giggled. "A little thank you. For everything."

"If that's going to happen every year, maybe I have incentive to come to this thing more often."

She laughed. "Hey, good idea. Every year from now until our forty years are up, we'll come here and watch the fireworks and I'll kiss you like that."

"Every year?"

"Yeah, every year, no matter what. Fighting or whatever, that's what we'll do on the Fourth of July. Right here. And then when we have kids, they can come here and watch, too. Oh my God, that will be so much fun."

"Aren't kids supposed to be scared of these things?"

"Your kids probably will be," she said with a good nature roll of her eyes.

"I'm not afraid of them, I just don't see the point."

She shook her head at him and smiled, rubbing small circles on his back. "Yeah yeah."

"What if we decide one year we want to go away for the holiday?"

She thought about that. "Well, then we watch fireworks somewhere. Together. But it's preferably here."

"How did I just get roped in to watching fireworks every Fourth of July for the rest of my life?" he asked with a frown.

"My magic, Babe, get used to it."

"Guess I have no choice," he said, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer to him.

"Do you realize we're getting married? I mean, like you said, what if one year we want to go away? You know, like families do. We're going to be that."

He nodded and kissed her on the head, making sure everyone was still looking at the sky. "Yeah. We are." She laughed a moment later, and he looked down at her. "What?"

"I just can't picture you wanting to go away over a holiday," she stated.

"It was hypothetical. Don't get any ideas."

She took his hand and pulled him down onto the bench that was behind them, where they sat and continued to look up at the sky.

"Thank you," she whispered quietly as he let his thumb graze her fingers and palm of her hand, sliding over her engagement ring slowly.

He looked down at her, not sure why she was thanking him, exactly, this time.

"Anytime."

THE END

The end! Man, this story got WAY off track towards the end, lol. Sorry about that! I hope that it all made sense to you guys (because it did in my head!) and it didn't start rambling in places.

And now, the long wait until S6 continues. We've already made it 5 weeks. Phew.